The San Diego family of two claimed that a USPS mail carrier repeatedly and maliciously sprayed their family’s dog, which resulted in their two young children developing asthma.
SAN DIEGO (CN) – U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino ruled in favor of the federal government Thursday on claims that two young children had asthma after a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier sprayed their dog.
The Galindo family, who live in the San Diego border community of Otay Mesa, said Mail carrier Nestor Medina maliciously pepper-sprayed their small, white poodle mix, Pupa, on multiple occasions beginning in fall 2018 and March 2019. As a result, they say their children, Alfoncito and Regina, then ages 1 and 3, developed asthma.
The family said their children developed severe respiratory illnesses during that time, and they asked the court to award them $800,000 in damages, or $400,000 per child, for past and future harm to Alfoncito and Regina.
Sammartino disagreed.
“Having due consideration of the testimony and evidence admitted at trial and the law, the court finds that plaintiffs have not met their burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Nestor Medina’s pepper spraying of their family dog caused them to develop asthma. Therefore, the court finds in favor of defendant Sammartino, ” Order with 13 pages.
Long JUDGMENTattorneys for the family presented multiple home surveillance videos that they say showed Medina walking up to the front gate of the home and dropping off the mail while simultaneously spraying Puppa through a gate. In many of the videos, the dog is seen writhing and writhing in pain after Medina’s visits.
Young children share a close relationship with Pupa and often play with her and sleep with her in their beds. The pepper spray wreaked havoc on the young children’s respiratory systems, said Jason Evans, one of the attorneys representing the family from Casey Gerry LLP.
The family’s attorneys focused on Medina’s body movements as he walked from the sidewalk to the mailbox, often carrying a small canister of pepper spray.
During a professional review with USPSMedina initially admitted to spraying the dog once, but he later claimed he only said that to get the matter over with. Medina, who testified during the trial, has since maintained that he never sprayed Pupa.
Medina was fired from his position as a mail carrier, but later regained his job through arbitration.
After being taken off the road in March 2019, the Galindo family says their two children’s health improved. However, the parents, who also testified during the trial, said their children have continued to suffer from a recurring cough and similar breathing problems ever since.
During the trial, government lawyers cast doubt on the family’s claims that Medina was guilty.
Throughout the trial, Justice Department attorneys argued that the Galindo children could have developed their asthma through other means.
They argued that the children’s asthma diagnosis was most likely the result of repeated viral infections that coincided with Alfoncito’s daycare enrollment.
They appeared to be normal, healthy children, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Riley said at the time closing arguments. Although the children’s health improved after Medina was taken off the street, Riley argued that it also coincided with the end of the cold season and when they started taking their asthma medication.
DOJ lawyers also suggested other possible explanations for the children’s illness. They suggested that cleaning products from the family business, or marijuana smoke or nearby air pollution may have resulted in respiratory problems.
While Sammartino conceded that Medina breached a duty of care by pepper spraying without provocation, she found credible the government’s expert testimony that the children’s history of childhood viral illnesses likely caused the asthma — not the pepper spraying.
“The court cannot even conclude that the pepper spray aggravated the plaintiffs’ asthma, since, according to Dr. Cornfield, the pepper spray would not have been aerosolized and entered the plaintiffs’ airways. This is reinforced by the fact that no one in the Galindo family testified that they had other symptoms – eg, Pupa,” Sammartino wrote.
Sammartino, a George W. Bush appointee, presided over the trial, which began on May 11. The court heard closing arguments on May 21.
The Galindo family filed their lawsuit against the federal government alleging negligence in the year 2023.
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